ONGC Announces ₹10K Ex-gratia Per Family In Irusumanda Blowout
The hospital will serve the needs of 60 villages in the district. It will be fully equipped to deal with people affected by any mishaps at the ONGC-owned oil and gas wells in the area
KAKINADA: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will establish a 100-bed multi-speciality hospital over 2.57 acres of land at Lakkavaram village in Malikipuram mandal in Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district.
The hospital will serve the needs of 60 villages in the district. It will be fully equipped to deal with people affected by any mishaps at the ONGC-owned oil and gas wells in the area.
Making the announcement at a press conference at Amalapuram on Saturday, Konaseema district collector R. Mahesh Kumar said in the aftermath of the blowout at Irusumanda village on January 5, Razole MLA Deva Vara Prasad had proposed that ONGC establish a hospital in the area and extend ₹5 lakh health insurance to each family living in the areas where the corporation has its oil and gas wells.
Mahesh Kumar said the ONGC has responded positively with regard to the hospital. Further, it has announced ₹10,000 ex-gratia to each of the 6,300 families in the four villages of Irusumanda, Lakkavaram, Chintapalli and Gubbalapalem to compensate for the losses suffered by the people due to the blowout at Irusumanda.
ONGC Rajamahendravaram asset manager Santanu Das and MLA Vara Prasad also attended the press conference.
The Konaseema collector said ONGC officials have collected the bank account details of 6,300 families affected by the blowout. The ex-gratia amount will be directly deposited into the accounts of the account holders.
Speaking on the occasion, MLA Vara Prasad said when extracting gas deposits from the wells as well as during the reopening and perforation processes, people living in the area must be informed in advance. Further, all safety measures should be taken to ensure the safety of public.
ONGC asset manager Santanu Das said the corporation strictly follows all safety measures while extracting oil and natural gas or when exploring wells. He assured that necessary measures will be taken to prevent such incidents from recurring in future.
